Last year's losing finalist, Tomas Berdych, made an impressive start to his Wimbledon campaign on Monday, looking happy to be back where he came so close to glory. The man whose title dreams were ended by Rafael Nadal 12 months ago demolished Italy's Filippo Volandri 6–2, 6–2, 6–1 in just over an hour and a half of quiet brutality.

The Czech, seeded sixth this year, is in Nadal's section of the draw and is scheduled to meet him in the quarter–finals. On Monday's evidence it is a match the world No1 will not be looking forward to as Berdych crunched 12 aces en route to a simple and commanding win. Berdych did not even face a break point against as the world No81 Volandri was thoroughly outclassed. At 29 the Italian is still a decent player on clay but on grass he finds it tough and has now lost seven of his eight matches here.

For many players reaching a Wimbledon final would be the springboard for more, a stepping stone to grand slam titles, but Berdych is a sensitive soul. His victories over Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic here suggested he could be on course for future success but instead, as last summer wore on, the pressure on him to deliver became too much.

"I was in a new situation," he said. "Everyone was expecting too much from me. It was like: semi–finals in Paris [at the French Open], final at Wimbledon, so what are you going to do next? I just had too much of that. I heard it from every single corner. It doesn't help. It doesn't change anything. It doesn't help you to feel good on court. For me it was a new experience. And when people went on court against me they thought: 'OK, I'm playing against Berdych, let's try to beat him because he's had good results."

In the Toronto Masters last August he came close against Federer but lost, a match that left him feeling spent. This year his results have been steady but not spectacular and his first–round defeat at the French Open last month rocked his confidence further. But on Monday it looked as if he was back in a good place and he will be confident of getting past Julien Benneteau of France in the second round.

Before Berdych gets a crack at Nadal, Milos Raonic may get an opportunity to show why so many people are tipping him to be the next big thing. The 20–year–old Canadian, born in Montenegro and with a serve reminiscent of Pete Sampras, began with three aces and walloped down 22 more as he saw off the Frenchman Marc Gicquel 6-3, 7-6, 6-3.

The 34-year-old Gicquel, now ranked 119 but as high as No37 three years ago, was a late, late replacement for the Italian Fabio Fognini, who pulled out on Monday morning with a leg injury he suffered at the French Open. Raonic, in his first senior match at Wimbledon, coped well with the change and, after taking the second–set tie-break 7–3, he eased through the third to clinch victory. He will need to get past the tough left–hander, Gilles Müller of Luxembourg, to have a chance to play Nadal in round three but the prospect of taking on the world No1 is an exciting one. "It would mean a lot," he said. "If it does get to that, it's a good opportunity and I think it's something to look forward to."

The Frenchmen Gaël Monfils and Richard Gasquet both advanced to the next round with comfortable straight-sets victories over Matthias Bachinger and Santiago Giraldo respectively. Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka was another winner on the first day while Thomaz Bellucci was the first seed to be eliminated, losing to Rainer Schüttler, the oldest man in the draw.

Daniel Cox will return to court on Tuesday to continue his match with Sergiy Stakhovsky facing an uphill struggle. The British No3 scrapped gamely in the first set but went down 6–2 before the rain intervened with Cox 1–0 up with serve in the second.